For the icing

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Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and
line a 12-hole muffin tin with cases. In
a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar, flours,
bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and
orange zest. Whisk together the eggs
and oil, then stir into the dry ingredients
with the grated carrot. Divide the mixture
between cases and bake for 20-22 mins
until a skewer poked in comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack before icing.

For the icing, beat the butter until really
soft, then beat in the soft cheese, icing
sugar and vanilla. Use a palette or cutlery
knife to swirl the icing on top of the
cakes, then sprinkle with decorations.

Comments

This is by far the best cupcake recipe I have ever used, the cakes came out perfectly soft, light and fluffy with a lovely flavour. The only change I made was to add some lemon juice and zest to the icing because I love cream cheese icing to have a bit of a zing to it. I weighed the carrots before grating and found the amount was spot on.

I used olive oil (100ml) instead of sunflower oil to try and make them a little healthier - they do have a slight taste of olive oil but still taste great. I also didn't have enough carrots so added half a courgette into it and used all white self-raising flour (as I didn't have any wholemeal flour in the cupboard).

These cupcakes are nothing short of AMAZING. I made some changes below and they came out perfectly.

100ml of extra virgin Olive oil (didn't like thought of using sunflower oil)
All wholemeal self raising flower (as opposed to half normal/half wholemeal)
Grated carrots - used half of the amount (was it 200g of carrots before or after they were grated? Makes a HUGE difference!)
Mixed spice - didn't have any so left out
Topping - put half a walnut on top of icing on each cupcake

The sponge was moist and very spongy (raised beautifully). Must say there was way too much icing. I think I could take at least 20g off each amount. Next time I will do that and perhaps add sultanas and orange juice to the mix :)

Made these cupcakes this afternoon and they were delicious!! So pleased with how they turned out. I didn't have any sunflower oil so used vegetable oil which was fine..will definitely use this recipe again :-)

will try this recipe for individual cupcakes as very similar to the one I use for my carrot cake. Though did you use your Cream Cheese Frosting and it was delicious so thank you for sharing a great recipe.

Well... for starters, I'm not what you youngsters would call a "carrot craver" so I left that little detail out! I decided to make them with aubergine instead ( I'm am an aubergine admirer as the cool kids call it) I had to mosey down to the fridge, only to find that there was NO CREAM CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!! :( So I took Mr tinkle winkle (my Rottweiler) down town to one of those markets you punks call super, well I don't know what your dictionary says about super, but in my world this ain't it! NO CREAM CHEESE!!!!!!!! :( :( :( :0 So I was forced against my will to make my own!

Shame you and Mr Tinkle Winkle couldn't find what you were looking for in our Supermarkets - all major supermarkets such as Tesco, Adsda, Waitrose, Sainsburys will have soft cheese such as philadelphia or their own make also known as cream cheese. The baking soda is different to bicarbonate soda and would have made a slight difference in the rising and tasting of the cakes. Don't give up!!! try again and let us know if you have a success with aubergines as I have never made any with this veg.

OK! These are simply the best carrot cupcakes ever! I have made them so many times and I am never disappointed with the results. The frosting is amazing as well. To make my frosting, I used full fat cream cheese and I beat the icing and sugar first. I turned off my mixer and I added the cream cheese by stirring it in with a normal whisk. I made sure I added the cream cheese while it was still cold (i.e directly from the fridge). The frosting held so well after piping. It was not runny at all. Followed the tips in some of the reviews by swapping the orange zest for juice in the recipe and adding some orange juice to the frosting. Amazing!!!
I vote 5 stars!!

I thoroughly enjoy baking these little beauties as they are fun to bake and are my favourite type of cake. All the friends and family love when i make these and they taste sooooo good that they are gone before the bake tin is even closed.

I suggest swapping the topping for butter icing instead as although the cream cheese tastes great, they need to be kept chilled and if there is too thick a layer, it can be quite heavy.

Big hit with the family and i shall be making these for years to come.

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